Guild Wars 2

I’ve played a thief in sPvP and tried out all their various weapon types. It seems like the only weapons that actually work well together are sword-pistol, dagger-dagger, and shortbow.
Having only these weapons to really chose from is annoying to say the least, but no matter how you play with them in the end you’re spamming heartseeker, Leaping blossom, pistol whip, and cluster bomb. The other abilities have utility, but as a thief you don’t really play to outlast your opponents, so you have to play to do damage.
All in all, this makes me feel extremely generic. I really want to play the thief because I love the archetype, but it’s so generic I want to cry.
Are there any viable builds that don’t go down the path of every other thief in this game? (namely backstab and pistol whip builds)

Two major ways to play thief:

1. Burst them down
2. Outlast them (bleed/condition)

The former you’ve found although I disagree in the strength of all the skills you did not mention. They all have a place. Dancing dagger, cloak and dagger, Choking Gas, Disabling shot all have situational uses. Using them appropriately allows engagement, disengagement, and weakening/control over your opponent.

These skills become more important in as your oppenents are more able to withstand straight up damage and truly come into their own in a more bunker type build.

See the above for Shortbow usage, might also want to watch Wild Bill P/D below to see a pretty nifty stealth-bleed spamming build.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnqE7xnqsyI

So you’re saying that although a thief may use a generic build, utilities and how to use various weapon skill ultimately define the good thieves from the bad thieves?